Leicester students produce pedal powered cinema

A team of engineering students (pictured) has produced a bicycle powered generator which could power a 55 watt projector for the time required to watch a movie.

In recent times, pedal power has seen a rise in popularity as it is seen as an alternative source of clean energy and a positive step to try to tackle climate change.

Now, as part of their degree, fourth year Electrical Engineering (MEng) students in our Department of Engineering have designed and built a compact bicycle powered generator that enables the user to comfortably pedal and produce enough energy to power a cinematic projector.

The students connected a single speed racer bicycle to a 250 Watt motor via a belt and to provide enough current to charge the battery, the user would need to pedal at a rate of 60 RPM (60 revolutions per minute).

The battery would then supply energy to a square wave inverter circuit – which converts the DC voltage produced from the cyclist to AC voltage which powers the projector over a long period of time – enough to watch your favourite movie.

At the end of the project, the students watched the film Mission Impossible together using the projector, taking turns to pedal the bicycle in order to generate power.